Transcript
The OSU Extension Service is charged with providing programming in every county of the state for all socio-economic backgrounds and for families whose first language might not be English. After recognizing a gap in accessible and culturally relevant programming, OSU Extension responded to specific community needs for programming in Spanish in three major areas this year.
We chose to focus on college access after recognizing a gap in college access materials offered in Spanish, community engagement in the outdoors both recreationally and as a career path, and finally, Latinx identity development in the context of the United States.
All three of these program examples show how OSU Extension is offering equitable, culturally relevant programming to individuals, families, and youth. A Latina group here is exploring the outdoors and also looking at their own identity, seeing how they're represented here in the county and in STEM, looking at their Latin identity, having them look into their history, into their culture, seeing how we can share that with the community, going outdoors, seeing what we have, going kayaking, visiting with the Forest Service, looking at different birds that we have that migrate. A lot of it is for them to just experience things that we have here that they might not have known we had, get to just try things for the first time.
Latinx is a curriculum that allows for our students and parents, and just families in general, to come together with other folks in their community with similar backgrounds to discuss what it means to them to be Latinx or Hispanic in this country. It offers students and families the opportunity to engage in conversations about their personal backgrounds and identity and how that relates to their day-to-day lives here in the United States with other people with similar backgrounds in their community. And that's an opportunity they might not otherwise see in other places, whether it be at school, at home, or at work.
Juntos Family Day is a program that happens every other year on OSU's campus, and it's designed to give students and their families a preview of college life. One of the things that I hear over and over again is how grateful they are that this program is done primarily in Spanish. It gives them the opportunity to engage with the presenters, ask the questions that they want, and leave the program knowing that they got everything answered and they can communicate in the language that they're most comfortable in. Getting a chance to see all of these families from all over the state coming together, the energy that you feel as they're coming off of the bus, even as they're leaving eight hours later, they're still high levels of energy. They're incredibly engaged from the moment they step off the bus to when they get back on it to go home. The impact that the Juntos Family Day has had on promoting equitable college access would definitely be the language component. We're also making sure that the students and families feel seen and heard, that they know that they belong in these spaces that have traditionally excluded them.
After recognizing a gap in accessible and culturally relevant programming in Spanish, OSU Extension’s Open Campus program focused on three areas: college access, community engagement in the outdoors—both recreationally and as a career path—and Latinx identity development in the context of the U.S. This video features how OSU Extension is offering equitable, culturally relevant programming to individuals, families and youth. Learn more about Open Campus' impact on Oregon in its annual reports.
